Anxiety

Anxiety is a part of everyday life. It can be a natural emotional experience. An anxiety disorder is different from a normal response to environmental stressors. With anxiety disorders the anxiety is more intense, it lasts longer, and it may be specific to people, places, or situations. Some people experience anxiety to specific situations whereas others may always feel somewhat anxious. When anxiety is untreated, it can take over our lives. We may become consumed with fears and preoccupations that can significantly restrict our lives. Anxiety contributes to the inability to enjoy life in the here and now.

If people try to ignore physical signs to slow down and take better self-care the result is an escalation in symptoms. The escalation of emotional and physical symptoms are termed a panic attack.

Symptoms of Panic Attacks include:

Anxiety

muscle tension

shortness of breath

feeling dizzy

shaking or trembling

numbness or tingling

feelings of unreality

feeling detached from yourself

fear of losing control or going crazy

chills or hot flashes

feeling of impending doom or fear of dying

The goals to managing anxiety is to figure out what triggers your anxious response to certain situations, identify your concerns, and pay attention to the thoughts in your mind. The emotion that is attached to the thought will influence your behavior and possibly contribute to the development of an anxiety disorder or panic attack. The help of a therapist can assist in learning skills useful for managing and eliminating anxiety disorder symptoms.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.- President Obama

Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise. – Sigmund Freud